Friday, February 28, 2014

30 Lists : preparing a mini book base

After years of watching dozens of my scrapbooking friends participate in the 30 Days of Lists project, I'm finally committing to doing a book of my own in March. In just a few minutes a day, you write down your answers to a daily journaling prompt in list form. Simple and fun, right? While I was exploring the 30 Lists website, I found (and loved) the prompts from March 2011, so that is what I'll be using for my first time. Note : you can also register for new prompts starting March 1st here.

Since I'm all about preparing for projects like this ahead of time, I assembled my entire mini book in just a couple hours earlier this week. Here's what I used :

My album covers are 4" high x 5" wide, so I cut my kraft paper down to 4" high x 4.5" wide. I got 6 mini book pages out of each piece of cardstock (and three 3x4 cards as leftovers - perfect for Project Life scraps). I cut down enough for 31 pages, plus some extra in case of printing mistakes.

Once the paper was cut, I used the white ink dauber to paint on large numbers on each sheet, 1 thru 30. The ink, unlike paint, didn't dry bold + opaque on the kraft, so it gave a fairly subtle but graphic look to the page. I was really happy with the result.

Once the numbers were dry, I set up a Photoshop document to the size of my page and loaded the font Traveling Typewriter. For each page, I typed out the number (like "one." for 1), added a few spaces, then wrote my journaling prompt. After running them all through my printer, here's how they turned out :

I put my pages in order, with the large number w/ prompt on the left and the backside of the next number/prompt on the right. This is where I'll write my daily list. Here are a few examples of the daily spreads :

I kept the simple look on the cover as well and printed 'lists' on the backside of the Day 1 page. Once I assembled my book and added the binder rings, I centered 2 foam Thickers (3+0) on the outside of the transparent acrylic covers, over 'lists' :

My photographs do not do these album covers justice. They are bright + they are amazing. Love how they look with the kraft cardstock.

On the back, I signed my name and stamped the date :

I'm really excited to work on this through the month of March. I love lists + I love any opportunity to document a little more about me, myself + I.

I SUPPORT :

PLEASE + THANK YOU :

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